How we love our dear Lord Jesus, the good Shepherd who came not to judge or condemn sinners but to heal them, recover them, enliven them, and save them so that they would be His new and heavenly citizens for the kingdom of God!
The Lord Jesus as the God-man was the only One who could condemn others because He was perfect and righteous, but He didn’t; in all His living and work on earth He loved man, cared for man, sought after man, shepherded man, and cherished man, and He eventually gave His life for man so that man would be fully cherished and open to Him to receive His divine life in resurrection.
When we read the gospels we are impressed not only with the Lord’s high teaching and excellent virtues but also with how much He did to shepherd people by cherishing them in His humanity so that He would feed them with the bread of life, the bread which comes out of heaven, the living bread. He never rejected the tax collectors, He never despised the sinners, and He never cast away those in need.
Today we want to look into some of the cases in the gospels where we clearly see how the Lord shepherded them by cherishing them in His humanity so that He may nourish them in His divinity.
We need to shepherd people according to the pattern of the Lord Jesus in His ministry for the carrying out of God’s economy; this One, the good Shepherd, is now the Spirit with our spirit, and we can cooperate with Him and follow in His steps to shepherd others as He did for the enlargement of Christ in humanity.
Christ came not as a Judge but as a Physician to Heal, Recover, Save, and Enliven Man for His Kingdom
When the Lord Jesus was on earth He did not come as a Judge but as a Physician; even though He was perfect and qualified to judge others, He didn’t judge them according to righteousness but came as a Physician to heal them according to mercy and grace.
The Lord came to heal the lepers (Matt. 8:2-4), cause the paralytics to walk (8:5-13; 9:2-8), heal the fever-ridden (8:14-15), release the demon-possessed (8:16, 28-32), heal all those ill with all kinds of diseases (8:16), despised tax collectors, and save the sinners (9:9-11).
If He would have come as a judge, everyone would be condemned and rejected, and none of them would be qualified, selected, and called to be the people of God’s kingdom. But praise the Lord, Christ came to minister to us as a Physician to heal us, recover us, enliven us, and save us so that we may be reconstituted with Him to be His heavenly citizens, the kingdom people!
We need to be one with the Lord who is such a wonderful Shepherd of people, always joining in to care and be burdened for man. The tax collectors and sinners loved being around Him, and He ate with them; this was so that He might cherish them for them to be saved and become a part of the enlarged God-man. We all are sick – we need Him as our Physician.
When we go to visit people or when we talk to people, we should be one with the compassionate Shepherd in our spirit to cherish them, not despise or condemn them but care for them, pray for them, and minister Christ to them for them to become part of the Body of Christ, His enlargement on the earth.
Lord Jesus, thank You for coming NOT to judge and condemn us but to heal us, recover us, enliven us, and save us that we may be Your new and heavenly citizens for the kingdom of God! Lord, we love You as our Physician and Shepherd! Thank You for your inward and outward shepherding to care for us, heal us, release us, and cherish us so that we may be open to feed on You and grow in the divine life. Lord, make us one with You as the inward Shepherd to also shepherd others according to Your pattern!
Christ Cherished the Sinful Woman in Sychar and He gave her to Drink to Nourish her
One time the Lord was on His way to Samaria, and He purposely took a detour to go through Sychar in order to gain one immoral woman (see John 4). He sat at the well waiting for her, and He cherished this water-seeking, immoral Samaritan woman by asking her to give Him a drink.
Then, He nourished her by giving her to drink of the water of life; this water of life quenched her thirst and even gushed up in her as springs of water of life springing up into eternal life (John 4:13-14).
God’s desire is for man to come to Him and drink of Him as the living water of life, and for this many times in our life He “takes a detour” – He goes out of His way to find us, cherish us, expose us, help us confess our sins, and then give us to drink the water of life.
We need to be one with the Lord to shepherd people by bringing them to Christ, the fountain of life! When we drink of Christ, we enjoy the Father as the fountain, the Son as the flowing out, and the Spirit as the water of life, and this living water flows in us and springs up in us to flow us into the New Jerusalem, the totality of the eternal life.
The more we drink of Christ as the Spirit, the more we become the corporate God-man, the New Jerusalem.
Thank You Lord for coming to meet us where we are, in our situation and condition, so that You may cherish us in Your humanity and nourish us with the water of life. Lord, keep us coming to You to drink of You! Flow into us, flow in all our being, and spring up from us to give others to drink! We want to be one with You as the Shepherding One in our spirit to visit sinners and shepherd them by bringing them to You as the fountain of life!
Christ didn’t Condemn the Sinful Woman but Set her Free from Sin Organically
In John 8 the Jews brought a sinful woman caught in the act of adultery to Him; according to the law, such a woman had to be stoned to death, but they wanted to see what the Lord says. As the One without sin, He was the only One qualified to condemn her, but He told the Jews, He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone!
The Lord was without sin, yet He didn’t condemn the adulterous woman but cherished her for the forgiveness of her sins judicially and for the setting free from her sins organically. He not only didn’t condemn the sinful woman but told her, Go and sin no more! – indicating that He didn’t only take away her sin through His redemption but He would also become the life that enables sinful man to sin no more!
Hallelujah, Christ did not only die as the Son of Man to accomplish redemption and take away our sin for us to no longer live under condemnation, but He also came into us as the life that does not sin!
We need to be one with Him, cling to Him, enjoy His life, live by His life, and He will enable us not to sin! Then, as we reach out to sinners, we will shepherd them by not condemning them but bringing them to Christ, the Redeemer and the Sinless-Life-Giver!
Lord, thank You for not only dying for us to take away our sin so that we may not be under condemnation anymore, but also coming into us as the life that does not sin! We cling to You and we want to be one with You, dear Lord Jesus! You are the sin-overcoming life within us. Oh Lord, make us one with You in shepherding others to You as the Redeemer and Life-Giver so that they may have their sins forgiven and be freed from sin by Your life!
Christ Cherished Zaccheus by Coming to his House and Nourished him by Bringing Salvation
The Lord Jesus went to Jericho just to visit and gain one person – Zaccheus, a chief tax collector (see Luke 19:1-10). His going to visit him in his house was cherishing to him; Zaccheus brought all his tax collector friends to this time, and he was happy and open to the Lord.
The result of the Lord’s visitation and speaking was that salvation came to Zaccheus’ house – salvation is a person, Jesus Christ, who came to seek and save those who were lost! His visitation was cherishing and His speaking was nourishing; Zaccheus was shepherded by the Lord and the result was that he had a change in heart and life.
Hallelujah, Jesus Christ as the organic Savior is in us, and He is saving us day by day! The happiest people are those who are freshly saved by Christ every moment from any discouragement, distraction, the word, and the flesh, and who are filled with Christ, the God-man!
We need to be one with the Lord as the Savior-Shepherd to go and seek those who are lost, cherish them in His humanity and nourish them in His divinity to bring salvation to their homes for them to be members of His Body, His enlargement.
Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to seek and save those who are lost, among whom we were. Lord, thank You for coming into us as our organic Savior to save us much more in Your life day by day. We want to cooperate with You as the organic Savior-Shepherd to visit others, cherish them in Your humanity, eat and drink with them in Your presence, and bring You as the Savior to them to make them the sons of God and the members of the Body of Christ!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, brother Dick Taylor’s sharing in the message for this week, and The Vital Groups, msg. 10 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Need for a New Revival, week 5 / msg 5, Shepherding according to God (1) Shepherding People by Cherishing and Nourishing Them according to the Pattern of the Lord Jesus and of the Apostle Paul.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# He who was the friend of sinners, / Seeks thee, lost one, now; / Sinner, come, and at His footstool, / Penitently bow. / He who said, “I’ll not condemn thee, / Go and sin no more,” / Speaks to thee that word of pardon, / As in days of yore. (Hymns #993)
# Have you found the great Physician, / Jesus Christ of Galilee? … / Oh! I’m glad to tell you, suff’rer, / Christ has more than healing too; / Life abundant overflowing, / He will gladly give to you. / Step out boldly, claim His fulness, / Let your sadness flee away; / When on earth He made them joyful, / And He is the same today. (Hymns #758)
# But whoever drinks of the water / That I will give / Shall by no means thirst forever; / The water I’ll give / Will become in him a / Fountain of water / Springing up into eternal life. (Song on John 4)
In calling people to follow Him for the kingdom, the King of the heavenly kingdom ministered as a Physician, not as a Judge. A judge’s judgment is according to righteousness, whereas a physician’s healing is according to mercy and grace. Those whom He made people of His heavenly kingdom were lepers (Matt. 8:2-4), paralytics (8:5-13; 9:2-8), the fever-ridden (8:14-15), the demon-possessed (8:16, 28-32), those ill with all kinds of diseases (8:16), despised tax collectors, and sinners (9:9-11). If He had visited these pitiful people as a Judge, all would have been condemned and rejected, and none would have been qualified, selected, and called to be the people of His heavenly kingdom. However, He came to minister as a Physician, to heal, recover, enliven, and save them that they might be reconstituted to be His new and heavenly citizens, with whom He could establish His heavenly kingdom on this corrupted earth. (Matt. 9:12, footnote 1, Recovery Version Bible)